Pain, the most frequent complaint reported by patients in primary care, is difficult to treat and one of the most disabling health issues in our contemporary environment. Acute pain is a short-term increase in background discomfort caused by noxious stimuli such as trauma, tissue injury, or illness, resulting in sensory, inflammatory, hormonal, and immunologic changes. Although acute pain normally subsides after a few days or weeks, the pain remains and becomes intractable for a considerable percentage of the patient population.
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